Volleyball heads to Boca Raton for season opener

LUBBOCK, Texas – Texas Tech volleyball officially begins its season this weekend as they head to Boca Raton, Florida to compete in the Florida Atlantic Invitational where they will face Western Carolina, FAU and Kent State. The Red Raiders will play Western Carolina and FAU on Friday at 9 a.m. and 6 p.m. CT, before playing Kent State at 10 a.m. on Saturday to close out the weekend.

Tech has played only one of the three teams they will face this weekend. FAU came to Lubbock last season as part of the Red Raider Classic and dropped its match to Tech 3-1. The Owls went on to finish the season 18-13 and advanced to the American Championship match before falling to Wichita State. WCU and Kent State look to bounce back after both finished below .500 and finished in the top two of their respective conferences. Both teams finished last in their preseason polls while FAU came in fifth in the American preseason poll.

QUICK FACTS:

In opening non-conference weekends, Tony Graystone is a stellar 20-4 and has only had one losing weekend which came in his first year as the head coach in 2016. Two of the teams on the schedule this weekend will be firsts for the Red Raiders who have not played Western Carolina or Kent State in its history and only played FAU once which came last season - Tech taking the match 3-1 in Lubbock.
The Red Raiders are the only team in the country to have at least nine freshmen while also having zero true seniors. Tech has three graduate seniors and are one of just four teams in the country that has zero true seniors joining Princeton, Villanova and Memphis in this unique feat. Tech's nine freshmen are also the second most in the country behind St. Mary's, Pacific, Holy Cross and Wichita St. who all have 10.
Head coach Tony Graystone enters his 10th season with Texas Tech volleyball. He has the third-most wins in program history (130) and led Tech to an appearance in the 2021 NCAA Tournament. He did that because of the recruiting class he got in 2018 that he was able to develop and build around and after a few seasons of using the portal to fill holes in the roster, Graystone went back to what he does best this season - developing talent. The Red Raiders will have nine freshmen on their roster - the most in Graystone's tenure - who he expects to be the core of the team for years to come to get them back to the postseason.
The Red Raiders welcome back six returners from last year's team, five of which played - Jasmine Martin returns from injury. Aliyah McDonald, Katelyn Cochran, Reagan Engler and Emily Contreras all served as starters at one point or another last season as Addie Kanouff returns for her sophomore season. McDonald highlights the returners, entering her fifth season of collegiate, as she is the team's leading returner in kills (121), blocks (96), points (179.0) and hitting percentage (.241) from a season ago.
The Red Raiders competed in their annual Red & Black scrimmage on Friday before facing an opponent in a different colored jersey for the first time this season with a scrimmage against Tarleton State. Tech played five sets against the Texans, winning all five and trotted out a new starting lineup each set as the team looks to nail down a more solidified rotation as the season starts. Sophomore Addie Kanouff and junior Reagan Engler impressed in the exhibition, each recording double-digit kills and hitting around .400. Katelyn Cochran and Peyton Dunn each found rhythms out of the setter position. Freshman Kalli Jioshvili Ravva didn't take much time to adjust as she had an impactful match, recording eight kills over three sets and was a six-rotation player for the Red Raiders.

Volleyball heads to Boca Raton for season opener

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Players Mentioned

Katelyn Cochran

Emily Contreras

Peyton Dunn

Reagan Engler

Kalli Jioshvili Ravva

Addie Kanouff

Jasmine Martin

Aliyah McDonald